Desire for Fulfillment

My son looks up at me with envy. He sees the joy in my eyes as I watch the bacon start to sizzle in the pan. He sees the smile on my lips as I push the crackling goodness around with a fork, attempting to avoid the occasional splatter of grease.

“I want to do it!”

But he’s not old enough, not observant enough. If I let him try, the resulting burns could land him in the ER.

My daughter gets frustrated when she picks up a ‘grown-up book’ with its blocks of text and lack of picture-clues.

“How come I can’t read it?!”

She’s just not there yet. She’s too young.

My children have strong desires to do good things, but they can’t fulfill them. Not yet. There are years of development between where they are now and where they wish to be. Their loud frustrations bring them no closer.

“When will I be grow’d up?” my son asks mournfully. “Will it be a long, long time?”

It would be nice if time were the only factor keeping him from responsible adulthood. He has much work to do. Very little of it will be glamorous.Continue Reading

A Common Question

Every Sunday, as I walk through the crowd at our church’s gathering, I’m often greeted with the same question: “How’s Jeff City going?” Late last year my family moved to the capital of Missouri and away from an awesome community of neighbors, friends, coworkers, and church-family. It was a huge transition for us–an unexpected move to an unexpected place. While we still make the drive to Columbia to worship with Karis Church once a week, increasing relational distance has been unavoidable.

Honestly, I feel a bit of angst when the question is asked. Though it’s been hard to watch fruitful relationships in Columbia whither, the choice to move was good for our family. I often answer the question with a knot in my stomach. I look into the eyes of someone I miss dearly and tell them how great it is to be away, and how we can’t wait until we begin worshiping on Sundays with our brothers and sisters in Jeff. Here are some of the reasons things are going so well.Continue Reading